


Because I Love You

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-05
Updated: 2010-08-16
Packaged: 2019-01-19 06:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12404862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Draco and Hermione grew a liking to each other because of a task the Heads asked them to do. What will they do to this sudden attraction to each other? Will they let it get to them? Or find other ways to forget about it. R&R please.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**Because I Love You: Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: Anything sane that has been read in this fiction belongs to, non other than the great author who created the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling. Anything off from the real series belongs to non other than the peculiar mind of mine.**

**Read on, faithful readers and please review, I shall be very grateful. I'm bloody craving for some reviews. Please guys? I'd really appreciate it.**

***************

Hermione Granger waited patiently in the Head Boy Head Girl office as she sat on the chair in front of the Slytherin Head Boy's desk. She wondered what could be so important that they had to pull her out of Ancient Runes class. They're making her miss a perfectly good lecture. "Can't we just start without the other prefect?" she asked as she finally lost her patience. "Professor Kirberger's going to give an exam after the class," she pleaded. "I can't possibly miss that."

Arnaud Canfield smiled his sweetest smile at Hermione. The Head Boy was a tall, athletic built wizard with dark brown hair and deep green eyes that made him get what he wanted. Add to that his perfect smile and pearly white teeth, that no one can resist his charms. He truly does portray a perfect Slytherin student and there's no one else perfect for Head Boy as Arnaud, no one can deny that.

I'm sorry Hermione, but this concerns you and Draco," he told her calmly. "So we can't start without him."

Hermione's mouth opened in shock. She didn't even dare look at the slimy git, how come she has something to do with him now? "What's Malfoy got to do with me?" she asked Arnaud angrily. "I haven't even talked to that bastard ever since this school year started."

"And I haven't even seen the big-headed, know-it-all Mudblood's head until now." Draco just entered the room, looking very irritated. "Canfield, what's this stupid meeting for?" he asked, still standing by the door.

Arnaud stood up and walked around the front of his desk. He leaned against it and crossed his legs at the ankles. "Ah Draco, good too see you too," he greeted as he motioned Draco to sit next to the chair Hermione's sitting at.

Draco didn't move, instead, he turned his back on them and opened the door. "I have no time for this, especially when it involves a mudblood."

"You are going to hear this meeting, Draco," Leigh Anson, the Head Girl's voice called out. "And trust me you'd rather deal with this problem with us than with the faculty." Grudgingly, Draco turned around, marched to his seat, and seated himself with an annoyed huff. The straight and silky black haired Hufflepuff Head Girl stood beside Arnaud with her arms crossed across her chest. Leigh Anson, like Arnaud, is a picture perfect example of a student and of a Hufflepuff. Her intelligence made her stand out among the crowd, and though Hufflepuffs are known to be gentle, Leigh had the ability to make them see a different side of a Hufflepuff member, and also make people listen to her with the use of her words and dark brown eyes.

"We called you here to discuss your duties as prefects," Arnaud started, as he looked both prefects in the eyes. "It hasn't escaped our notice that both of you have certainly done nothing about the tension building up between your houses. And it's been going on for three weeks now ever since the school year started."

"I don't even know about these fights… Well, I know some of it, but I just hear it from other people," Hermione said defensively.

"It's not my fault those Gryffindors always starts the fight. Those people are barbarians," Draco said snidely.

This made Hermione turn her head to Draco, with a glare of daggers. "Shut your crap, Malfoy," she hissed irately. "Slytherins are the ones who always provoke the Gryffindors," she continued and turned to look at Leigh and Arnaud. "Besides, first of all, I'm not always there to save the day, you know."

"Slytherins? Why don't you go to see the fights one time and see who beats up who?" Draco came back with angrily.

"People, let's stick to the agenda," Arnaud's voice stormed through the room. It appears that it'll be harder than they thought. "Fine! I know how prefects have a lot to do so I agree with Hermione about not being there to stop it," he started again. "But the fights between our houses should not be escalating like this, so Leigh and I made up a plan." He looked at Leigh so as to tell her to explain what they had planned for them.

"We decided that the two of you shall pretend to be together to show to the members of your house that they can get along." Leigh told them calmly. This was the only resort they have, though it'll be impossible for both houses to start walking up to each other with open arms, it'll lessen the fights to talk about the former enemies.

Draco let out a haughty chortle. "The students won't buy that. What do you expect us to do? Come out of this office, holding and kissing each other?" He looked at Hermione with a dismayed look. "Just to let the both of you know, I don't want to be seen following around a mudblood."

"Sod off, Malfoy. I don't want a cold blooded animal having his hands all over me!" Hermione snapped back with sarcasm dropping off each word. "And these things take time. The students may be ignorant, but they're not thick."

"Who even said I'm going to touch you? I'd rather have a Hippogriff stuck up my ass than touch you."

Hermione sneered at him. "Oh yeah? Last time I checked you were screaming like Pansy when…"

"Last time I checked both your candidacy as Heads next year and still as prefects were at risk," Leigh interrupted the heated squabble between the two with a fuming tone. Both Draco and Hermione looked at her with open mouths. "You heard me right. Unless your houses' warfare stops, your candidacy is at risk. Especially the both of you have a very disturbed past in Hogwarts." She's right, though Draco and Hermione aren't the only prefects in their houses; they were always the ones seen spitting at each other.

This made Hermione panic. Everything she's worked for will go bye-bye because of this fight with Draco and between their houses. "But…"

Arnaud raised his hand to silence Hermione. "No buts. We didn't want to go there but both of you forced us to," He spoke firmly. "We'll give you three days to think of a way to prove to the whole school about your relationship. We'll need to hear your plan by Monday, understood?"

"Fine! Fine!" Both Draco and Hermione said with an exasperated tone, and at the same time stood up to walk to the door, but bumped into each other on the way out.

"Let me out you piece of scum!" Hermione yelled and brushed Draco aside. _This is unfair!_ She thought while she marched out of the corridor. _Just because of these fights, I won't be Head Girl next year! Worse, I might not have a chance with Justin!_

Since fifth year Hermione had a crush on Justin Finch-Fletchley, they were both muggle borns, he was a Hufflepuff and was a perfect gentleman. He was nice to her as well, and there was nothing wrong if they had a relationship. Everything will work fine. Only thing is, she doesn't know if Justin likes her.

"Look who's talking! Why don't you take your own advice, you shitty mudblood?" Draco bellowed as he slammed the door behind him. _Fuck that mudblood! I'll lose everything because of her!_

"This is going to be hard," Leigh said with a tired tone as she sat on Draco's chair.

"And fun," Arnaud added with a vice grin.

Knowing that Hermione and Draco won't be able to stop the fights, Arnaud and Leigh decided the two needed to spend some time together… in detention, to make the pretending thing work out. So they asked Professor Snape to find a way to give both Prefects detention, and of course, he was very much pleased to do it.

***************

"Detention for three days for doing this sleeping potion wrongly." Snape told Draco and Hermione as soon as he saw the purple potion, which supposed to be, was green. Though secretly, he placed an extra blue mountain grass to make sure the two will have detention.

"But sir, I was sure we did it correctly," Hermione tried to explain but…

"No buts, Ms. Granger. I can clearly see that the potion was done wrong."

"Professor Snape, I'm sure Granger and I have done the potion correctly. We put in the ingredients in the right time, we chopped the roots just as you said us to, and we stirred it five times like you said so," Draco said, as he tried hard to convince Snape they did the potion correctly.

Snape glowered at him. "Are you calling me a liar, Mr. Malfoy?" He asked in a tedious tone. Draco shook his head no as he looked down. "That's what I thought, very well, come to my office later and I'll think of your detention. Class dismissed."

Hermione gathered her things quietly and walked out quickly.

"I can't believe Snape gave you detention, Mione. Maybe Malfoy screwed up the potion." Ron tried to make Hermione feel better.

"Don't call me Mione, I hate that name. I was sure Malfoy and I did the potion correctly. I don't know what happened, but I'm sure we did it right," Hermione explained.

"Come on, just forget about that. We had lots of detentions before, so don't worry," Harry said, beaming at Hermione. "Come on, let's go have dinner."

Hermione sat between Harry and Ron and was laughing at some joke Ron told them when she felt sharp eyes on her. She looked for the owner of the eyes and found them on the Slytherin table. Malfoy was glaring at her; she glared back at him and didn't break eye contact until Pansy started flirting with Malfoy which just irritated him more.

After dinner, Hermione said goodbye to Ron and Harry and started for the dungeons. Upon entering the room, she saw Draco's silvery gold hair sitting in front of the classroom, and an irritated Snape on his desk.

"How nice of you to charm us with you presence, Ms. Granger," Snape greeted her in a sarcastic tone. Hermione sat down beside Draco and waited for Snape's punishment. "Now what to do with you…" he said as he tapped his forefinger on his cheek. "Ah, I want both of you to reorganize my ingredients in my shelves as well as clean them, without the use of your wands," he told them, and when none of them moved… "What are you waiting for, graduation?” And Draco and Hermione scrambled to their feet and went to the storage room.

While Hermione started taking the jar of ingredients from the shelf and placing them on a nearby table, Draco sat down on the table and looked at the contents of the jar.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" Hermione asked in an irritated tone as she saw him doing nothing at all.

"Studying the ingredients Snape are using for his lessons," Draco answered, grabbing a jar of bats' wings and eagles' eyes. When he saw Hermione glaring daggers at him, he smirked and said, "Why aren't you doing your job, mudblood? You're the reason we're in detention, remember?"

Hermione's mouth opened in surprise. "Me! I remember you saying "Professor Snape, I'm sure Granger and I have done the potion correctly," and don't you even put the blame on me, you cold blooded git!" Hermione yelled at him, waving her hands in anger.

Just as Draco was about to yell back at Hermione, Snape came in angrily. "I hear one more from the both of you and you'll be cleaning the whole castle." Then he saw Draco sitting on the table. "What do you think you're doing, Mr. Malfoy? Or do you want to be the only one to clean the whole castle?" He scorned at him. Like lightning, Draco stood up beside Hermione and started to take jars from the shelf.

After Snape left, Draco took his seat again on the table and resumed what he was doing. Hermione removed her robe, since it was a bit hot inside Snape's storage room, and rolled up her sleeves up to her elbow. After a smirk at Draco, she continued to take the jars of ingredients and placed them on the table where Draco was still sitting. "If you don't want to go back and forth, why don't you make yourself useful and wipe the jars with that rag?" she spat out scathingly, and then turned her back on him.

Draco grimaced at Hermione but started to wipe the jars clean. Bored out of his mind, he absent-mindedly gazed at Hermione whose back was to him and was by now trying to reach the top of the shelf for the two last remaining jars. He saw that her chestnut colored hair that ended just above her breasts, wasn't untamed anymore, instead it was just slightly wavy that made it look charming. Then he couldn't help but stare at her long, shapely and toned legs. It was hypnotic. While she moved up and down so hard to reach the top, her skirt had to move with her and it was too much for him. Though it didn't move up for him to see her underwear, it still was too much for Draco to look.

Finally tired of jumping up and down to reach the top, she stopped and just stood there while she thought of a way to grab those jars. Though the voice in her head told her to ask help from Draco, her pride got the better of her. She crossed her arms just under her breasts and started to tap her forefinger on her elbow. What does she have to do to get those jars?

As he saw Hermione had stopped from jumping, he now saw her side and he must say _Granger has all the curves in the right places._ Her breasts were now full, but just the right size for her body, her stomach was flat, and her butt was simply alluring. Then Hermione turned her back on him again to look at the top of the shelf. Though her uniform was a bit baggy, he could see her waist was small and her hips were just appealing.

Hermione looked for a stool in the room and saw one beside the door. She got the stool and found it was a little tall and unsteady when it stood up, but if she wants to finish the job, it'll have to do. As she put the stool in place, Hermione held on tight to the shelf to keep her balance she got the two jars at that time and it was quite heavy, the she was losing control of her balance.

Looking at the now wobbly Hermione, Draco placed on the table the jar and rug he was holding and ran to catch a falling Hermione, just in time, and found her in his arms. He looked at her and saw she was staring at him with surprise. Her lips _pink and soft,_ Draco thought were slightly parted and her almond colored eyes, _beautiful and tantalizing_ , were staring deep into his bluish gray ones. He could smell her sweet and light vanilla perfume as he breathed in deeply, and he couldn't resist any more.

Surprised that Draco ran to catch her, Hermione stared at him. She was taken aback when she found herself in Draco's arms but was more shocked at how close she was to him, and honestly, this was a first for her. She found herself looking at the formerly pointed and sharp face of Draco that now looked smooth and soft, and couldn't help but notice how soft his lips seemed. His hair was still brushed up like always, but now, she saw it differently since it looked soft and silky. Breathing in deeply to get some air in her lungs, since she held her breath when she felt his arms on her back, she could smell his spicy cologne just the smell she always wanted from men and it reminded her of someone from back home. As she looked at his bluish gray eyes, she couldn't stop herself from being drawn to them. She just found them stunning and captivating. She could see Draco was bringing his face to hers, about to kiss her when she heard the door open.

"Ahem!" Snape cleared his throat noisily. Draco almost dropped her to the floor when he heard their potions master's voice; fortunately, his strong muscles still had Hermione. He stood her up then stood beside her. "Nothing really, just thought to check up on the both of you," Snape eyed both prefects, and went out the room, leaving them to finish their work.

After Snape left, Hermione looked at Draco. "What now, Granger?" he asked her when he noticed her looking at him. She quickly turned away as she shook her head, and placed the two jars in her hand on the table.

Hermione fetched Snape and went back to the storage room to tell Draco they were all right to go. On the way to the prefect's dormitory, Hermione tried with all her might to brush the thought that Draco was about to kiss her, out of her mind. But she found it hard since she could still smell his spicy cologne on her uniform, and she could still feel his strong arms wrapped around her. Questions occupied her mind as she continued to walk, and then suddenly she bumped into something and landed flat on her butt. "Sorry…" she muttered, but when she looked up to see who she bumped into, she couldn't stop herself from giggling. She apologized to a wall. She pushed herself up and continued to walk; she saw that Draco continued to walk ahead of her. She now scolded herself for being so worked up over Draco Malfoy. Just then, she bumped into something again, but this time, it was softer and warmer and before she fell on her butt again, it caught her. It was Draco she bumped into and she just stared at him.

"Joie de vivre," Draco spoke the password and climbed through the portrait hole. He flopped onto the couch in the prefect's common room, still with the thought of his desire to kiss Hermione earlier. _Learn to control you hormones, Draco_ , he told himself. Though he knew it wasn't his hormones that pushed him, it was something else, but he didn't know what it was. Just then, he saw Hermione enter and the scene back in the storage room raced through his mind. She didn't bother to look at him, but continued to walk toward the stairs. "For someone who just got your butt saved, you sure don't know how to thank your catcher," his admission rolled off before he could stop himself. He really didn't want to get into any name calling fights tonight since he was quite tired, but for some reason he wanted Hermione to stay there even though if it meant having another fight.

Hearing Draco's words, she stopped dead on her tracks. "Thanks for catching me earlier," Hermione said quietly, she was too tired to start a row with Malfoy, and continued to walk up to her room.

*************** 


	2. Books and Letters

**Because I Love You: Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: Anything sane that has been read in this fiction belongs to, non other than the great author who created the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling. Anything off from the real series belongs to non other than the peculiar mind of mine.**

**DracoHermioneDracoHermione**

The following morning, Hermione met up with Ron in the prefects’ common room, and went down to breakfast together. "So Hermione, how did detention go last night?" Ron asked while he poured some maple syrup on his best friend’s waffles. “Did Snape make you scrub the classroom with a toothbrush?” He laughed at his joke, or was it a joke? And when nobody laughed, he looked down and quietly ate his breakfast.

However, Hermione wasn’t listening. Everything flew back to her head as soon as she heard Ron’s first question. Draco’s lips, eyes, hair, scent, everything, the whole enchilada. "No-not much,” she started, trying to sound casual. “Snape made us clean the shelves and jars of his ingredients. Fortunately, I'll be able to go to Hogsmeade today since detention will be tonight," she said with a smile and sliced herself a bit of her waffle. She loved Hogsmeade weekends. Butterbeers, Sugar Quills, and just the different view from the Hogwarts castle made her toes tingle.

"Good. You can get yourself drunk with too much Butterbeer, Snape might just let you off," Harry laughed as he imagined a drunken Hermione, giggling at Snape. "On second thought, that's not a good idea.” He took back his words after he imagined Snape hungrily stripping his best friend. Ugh, what a sore imagination.

Hermione knew very well what went on in Harry's mind and gave him a strong pat on the head. "Gross, Harry! Stop that!" she told him with mock anger. “To let you two know, I would never be drunk just to be let off easily.” Her nose pointed upwards. “You guys have gross imagination,” she said with a sarcastic smile. “It’s sickening, do you know that?”

Ron laughed and some of the syrup oozed at the side of his lips. “Well, we wouldn’t be Ron Weasley and Harry Potter if we didn’t have imaginations like that, right Harry?” he said with a laugh. He clapped his hand against Harry’s when his best friend offered his hand. Hermione rolled her eyes at the two boys, got a napkin and wiped the side of Ron’s mouth.

“Honestly Ronald, you’re such a boy,” she said, continuing with her breakfast. “I don’t understand how Lavender can stand you, sometimes.” The two boys looked at each other, then to Hermione, and laughed. 

**DracoHermioneDracoHermione**

After dinner, at long last, the last day of detention had arrived. Snape asked them to gather barks from different trees for the storage room. The night before that, he asked them to clean all the cauldrons and the vials he used for his classes. And like their first night of detention, Hermione worked away from Draco as much as possible. She didn't want the incident at their first night of detention to happen again. It was too weird and too un-Draco-ish and un-Hermione-ish for her.

"Now, I want both of you to stay together as much as possible, to avoid getting each other lost. Also, you won’t see the need to use your wands, since you will be doing this task without magic," Snape told them, and when Draco was about to ask if he could use his broom, "Yes Mr. Malfoy, you may use your broom. But I don't want to find you safe in the castle without Ms. Granger, is that understood?" He gave Draco a deathly glare. When he saw his student nod, he gave the gas lamp to Hermione as light on their way to the forest. "Now, it's just seven o' clock, I expect you to be back before ten o' clock."

"Yes sir," Draco answered and went off, Hermione trailing closely behind him. He went to the Quidditch lockers and grabbed his Firebolt, while she waited for him by the entrance to the castle. She was hugging herself because of the cold air and because she was nervous because she would ride on a broom. Finally, he came back for her, on his broom. “Come on, Granger. Let’s get this over with,” he said and waited for her to climb on, but she started to walk. "What in Merlin’s beard are you up to now, Granger?" he asked in an annoyed tone. He followed her, still on his broom, as she walked towards the Forbidden Forest. 

Hermione didn't turn to look at him, but answered, "Knowing someone like you, I know you wouldn't let a mudblood hop on your broom, so to not make it hard for you, I'll just walk to the Forbidden Forest to not stain the Malfoy pride." Though she really wanted to get to the Forbidden Forest quickly, her pride got the better of her.

From an exhausting Quidditch practice, to a screaming Pansy in the Slytherin common room, to his essay, on the history behind the superstition of Friday the Thirteenth and the Witches’ Sabbath, accidentally soaked in ink by Crabbe’s stupidity, he didn’t need any of her crap at the moment. His day was tiring enough to add the Gryffindor’s tenacity. Irritated because of her stubbornness, Draco flew to her front. This halted Hermione. "Will you stop being so mulish, Granger? Believe me, I do want to leave you here, but I can't or else Snape would give me detention for the rest of the year." He was breathing hard because of the cold wind that night. "Now hop on, so we can finish this stupid detention."

At first, Hermione hesitated. Thoughts of her falling off the broom, courtesy of Draco purposely doing a loop in the sky, entered her mind. But the thought of lying down on her warm bed and snuggling close to her pillows told her she had to ride with him, and she had to trust him. With a sigh of surrender, she walked behind him and sat herself on the broom. She tried hard not to touch Draco and stayed six inches away from him, but as soon as he kicked off the ground, Hermione quickly grabbed onto his waist. With the lamp clutched in her hand, she rested her forehead on his back with her eyes shut tight. She never liked flying. She was afraid of heights. It started when she was five. While she helped her father fix the hole on their roof, her right foot slipped on one of the loose shingles and almost fell off, if her father hadn’t caught her in time. That incident traumatized her. Even now, every time Ron or Harry would ask her to fly with them just for fun, she ended up glued to whomever she flew with, and wanting so much for the ride to be over.

Draco felt Hermione grab onto him as soon as they were off the ground. He turned his head a little bit and found her forehead rested on his back. "I suppose you don't like flying," he said as he lowered them down the Forbidden Forest. He felt Hermione's head move in a "no" gesture. "You can open your eyes now. We're not that high anymore." He turned his head a little again to look at her. She moved her head away and opened her eyes, but didn't let go of his robes. He then saw Hermione's eyes widen and when he looked ahead of him… BAM! Draco's head hit a branch of a tree and lost control of his broom, which made them hurdle to the ground. He saw Hermione lying on the snow, several feet away from him. A moment later he saw her sat up and looked around, and then, he passed out.

As soon as she found the lamp, Hermione started to search for Draco. She saw him by the foot of a tree, laid still. Afraid he might be knocked out, or worse, dead, she scrambled to her feet and kneeled beside him. She lowered her head to his chest to hear if his heart was still beating, and thank goodness it still was. "Malfoy, wake up! Wake up!" She shook him hard. After so many times of trying to rouse him, he finally did. "Thank Merlin, you're awake," she told him as she gave a sigh of relief. She sat beside him and placed her hand over her chest. “You gave me a fright,” she said and looked at how Draco was doing. She saw some blood on his forehead, and when she looked closer, she saw he had a cut too. Unsure of what to do, and all she knew was to clean up that wound to stop it from getting infected, she reached for the end of her cloak and ripped off a small part of it. She stood up and started to look for some water. _‘If I only had my wand_ , _’_ Hermione thought. A few more turns and she finally found something hollow beside the tree where Draco rested. She broke the thin ice and moistened the cloth.

He just sat there and waited for what Hermione was about to do. She kneeled beside him once again and brought the cloth to his forehead. “Sit still," he heard her say and to his surprise, he did what he was told. Just when the cloth was about to touch his wound, he halted her hand with his. "You're not going to touch me with that cloth, Granger," he told her. His thumb brushed lightly on Hermione’s skin and this confirmed whatever assumption he had about it. _‘Smooth.’_

"Malfoy, I'm just going to clean your wound. Besides its clean water and my cloak isn't dirty at all," Hermione told him and removed her hand from his. When the cloth touched his skin, she felt him shiver, but continued to clean his wound. She tried very hard to concentrate on what she was doing but here eyes kept on diverting to his eyes, lips and his red nose. _‘Hermione, what the hell are you doing? Stop looking at him!’_ she scolded herself. But she found herself weaker than she thought, because no matter how hard she tried to avoid looking at his features, she just couldn’t. After a few minutes of fighting with herself, Draco was blood free again. Quite satisfied, Hermione stood up and grabbed the lamp. "There, we can start collecting those barks of trees now," she told him, sure that his cut wouldn't be infected anymore. “Come on, we still have to get you to Madam Pomfrey.”

"Thanks," Draco muttered. Hermione was surprised at what she just heard. Draco Malfoy, the mudblood hating Slytherin just thanked her. Now that was something new. 

While they collected the barks of different kinds of trees, Hermione remembered they had to face Arnaud and Leigh once again tomorrow. They had to tell them their plan on how to make the whole school believe their make believe relationship. Problem is there was still no plan. "Uhmmm… Malfoy?" she huffed, not bothering to look at him. "I was just wondering, do you already have a plan to what Arnaud and Leigh wants us to do?" she asked him. She was breathing even harder since she was already freezing from the cold air. “I mean do you have ideas how we can pull it off?”

Draco turned to look at Hermione, but found her still busy with collecting the barks of the trees. "Granger, I know you're dying to be my girlfriend, but please don't show it too much, you'll make my head big." He smirked when he saw her look at him.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Your head is already too big, Malfoy! Besides, my candidacy as Head Girl next year will be finished if I have no answer," she retorted. "Just in case you've forgotten, your candidacy is at risk to," she told him snidely and saw Draco's expression tense up a bit. _‘Ha!’_ she thought to herself with a smile of triumph. 

Draco grew nervous after he heard what Hermione just said. He had totally forgotten about that. "Do I really have a choice of what to do? I haven't thought about that yet," he told her, a bit irritated about the conversation. He walked towards Hermione and handed her his bag. And then, as if a light bulb appeared above his head, he grabbed her arm and led her to his broom. "Come on, I think I have an idea," he told her and mounted his broom. Hermione followed suit and clung to Draco again. Though this time she found it hard to hold on to him because of the three things in her hands, thankfully she managed to stay on the broom and reached the castle safely.

He dragged Hermione quickly to the dungeons and gave Snape their bags. They both retrieved their wands and he pulled her towards the Great hall. He knew there were still people in the Great Hall taking their late dinner. Before Draco opened the door, he breathed deeply and faced Hermione. "Rather than facing Arnaud and Leigh tomorrow, I suggest we start now," he told her nervously, not sure of what he was saying. However, what they were about to do was much easier than making up a plan of some sort.

Hermione looked oddly at him. "What are you talking about?" she asked him clearly bewildered by the Slytherin’s actions.

His eyes turned to slits as he eyed her. "I didn't know you could be so thick, Granger. Instead of trying to convince the whole school tomorrow, I suggest we convince a few people first, and they'll be the ones to tell the whole school," he told her, but he was obviously not up to his own idea. True, Lucius Malfoy was not there anymore to lecture him about going out with a mudblood. He was killed in the surprise attack that the Aurors had done when they found out where Voldemort and the Death Eaters were hiding, but Draco still had his reputation for hating mudbloods. And now it should disappear in thin air if he wanted to make Head Boy position and make his mother proud of him, without Lucius' money to help him. "Now do you get me?" With an unsure smile, Hermione nodded at him. They took a final deep breath, held each other’s hand and opened the door.

The Great Hall fell silent as soon as they saw Draco and Hermione enter together, holding each others hand. The two didn't know what to do. They just stood there, taking in all the stares and the whispers from the other students. Their hands were getting sweaty already. Hermione spotted Justin on the Hufflepuff table, his mouth opened in shock. "Maybe we should get out of here. I think this is enough for the whole school to know," Hermione told him under her breath. She didn’t want to see, any longer, Justin’s reaction. It hurt her a little. She thought off the “what ifs” that came to her mind that night. When Draco didn’t move, an idea entered her mind. She faced him and cupped his face in her hands. "I'm not really hungry anymore, Mal... Draco. Maybe we should get back to the common room," she told him sweetly and rubbed her nose against his. She saw Draco’s eyes widen, obviously he was surprised. "What are you waiting for? Tell me something sweet," she whispered when she saw his flabbergasted reaction.

He couldn't believe she would do what she just did, and it sent shivers down his spine. He stammered for words to say to the sweet Granger in front of him. "Uhmmm… Le… Let's go then, Grange… honey," he said and accidentally said honey instead of Hermione. They heard loads of whispers after they let go of each other and went out the Great Hall. Their plan worked. Rumors would be out first thing in the morning tomorrow, or even tonight. "I think that went well, didn’t it?" Draco said as he wiped the bead of sweat that broke through on his forehead because of all the nerves.

Hermione didn’t answer. She started to walk towards the corridor that would lead them to the Hospital Wing. Her hand still in Draco’s, she felt him go the opposite direction. She pulled him towards her and led the way to Madam Pomfrey.

“Where are we going? I thought you wanted to go back to the common room?” he asked as he was being pulled by the Gryffindor. 

“We got to have your cut checked, Draco, remember?” she said as she opened the door to the Hospital Wing.

**DracoHermioneDracoHermione**

"I see you both found a way to convince the whole school of your little relationship," Leigh told them when she called both prefects to their office. Now, the students weren't attacking each other. They were too busy talking, or rather gossiping, about Draco and Hermione.

"I must say, you really pulled it off. The both of you are what the students can only talk about," Arnaud added with delight.

Hermione and Draco rolled their eyes. "I need to tell this to Ron and Harry, they'll go ballistic if they found out about this relationship," she told them. She can't afford to be seen by her best friends as a traitor, dating their worst enemy, next to Voldemort, of course. "They won't blab about this, I swear," she assured them in a pleading tone.

Leigh eyed Hermione carefully. True, she needed to tell Ron and Harry about this. She knows the feeling of losing friends over a bloke. "Alright, but only to Ron and Harry and no other person," she answered her in a tone where Hermione knew it was bad to test the Head Girl’s kindness. Leigh then turned to Draco. "To whom are you going to tell about this relationship?" she asked him.

"No one," Draco answered flatly. "Crabbe and Goyle are too thick to be able to understand what's going on," he explained, with a look of annoyance on his face. "Can we go now?"

Arnaud looked at the time, and saw it was almost lunch. "Very well, you may go," he told them in an amused tone, and then the two were out of their office in a flash. He looked at Leigh and smiled. "This'll be amusing, don’t you think so?"

"Where are you going, Granger?" Draco asked when he saw Hermione going the opposite direction from him. "We need to show the whole school we're together, remember?"

Hermione stopped and turned to answer Draco's question. "I'm going to tell Ron and Harry first before we let the whole lot know that we're together," she answered, quite irritated for being delayed. "I'll see you later or do you want to go with me?"

"And be lunged at by Scarhead and Weasel? I don't think so Granger," he answered and turned his back on her. "I'll just see you later," and Draco went to the Great Hall alone. He was hoping he was with Hermione when he welcomed all the odd stares and whispers he would get once he entered the Great Hall. But then the mudblood had to go to her goody-goody friends, and now he would face the whole student body, alone. As he turned the corner towards the Great Hall, he breathed deeply. _‘Well, here goes nothing, Draco,’_ he thought, and then proceeded to lunch.

Everyone’s head turned to him as soon as he was by the door. For a moment, it was quiet, and then whispers broke the awkward silence. 

 “Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger? That’s like Voldemort and Harry hanging out together.”

“I reckon Pansy’s gone ballistic by now.”

“Pansy? I think Hermione’s the one who’s lost her knockers.” 

“Why with Draco Malfoy? He’s the son of a Death Eater!”

“Oh god, I wish I was Hermione right now.”

“Why would he date that mudblood? She’s not even his type.”

“I honestly thought Ron and Hermione were meant for each other.”

Draco had to control himself from snapping back at the students. He had to walk to the Slytherin table, where all of them looked at him strangely, taking in every single word from their accusations. Of course, by the time he got to his seat, Crabbe and Goyle continued to eat, as if he hadn’t arrived or they hadn’t heard the news yet. “What are you looking at?” Finally he snapped at a few of his housemates who didn’t bother to look away as he ate his lunch. He then saw Hermione enter the Great Hall with Harry and Ron. Once again, the hall was silent, and then whispers started to arise again. She walked to her usual place, as if nothing was wrong, and this irritated him quite a bit. How could she act like that? She gave him a quick smile before she sat between her best friends, and then continued to chat with the two boys beside her.

For the rest of the day, Draco and Hermione were together wherever they went. Draco would walk Hermione to her classes and when they have classes together, they sat together at the front of the room, to Draco’s annoyance. It was a tiring day for both of them, since they had to hold back their annoyance and umbrage when one of them did something a little inappropriate. Add to that the worry that their candidatures as Heads next year were at jeopardy, it was exhausting.

However for Hermione, now that she's Draco Malfoy's girlfriend, things may perhaps appear different. Lots of Slytherin girls every now and then gave her glares, and not just the Slytherin girls, even a few ones from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff girls. _‘Must be the so-called Draco Malfoy fan club_ , _’_ Hermione thought. Well, she wouldn’t let herself be affected by these girls. She had more important things to do than to worry about _‘that hideous so-called club. Why, in Merlin’s name, would they put up a fan club for that… that… that annoying excuse for a wizard?’_

Draco walked her to her class with the Hufflepuffs. Before he left for his class with the Ravenclaws, he gave Hermione a peck on the cheek. Stunned, she just looked at him walk away. She tried to hide the smile that formed on the side of her lips by covering her mouth. However, Justin Finch-Fletchley had seen it already. When she finally snapped out of her trance, when she heard Ron’s loud voice from afar, Hermione saw Justin looking at her. He smiled at her but she felt her stomach churn. She often wondered what if Justin really had feelings for her. And he thought that she never liked him? That ticked her off a little.

**DracoHermioneDracoHermione**

_Thursday night…_

After dinner, Hermione said goodnight to Ron and Harry. She was going to the library to do assignments and for advanced reading. The two boys told her to be careful and just call them whenever she needed them. She smiled at the two. “I will, alright? Don’t worry, please?” she said, hugged both boys and was off for the library. Before she was out the Great Hall, she could feel loads of eyes burning on her back. Also, she could feel someone was following her. Thinking it was Ron and Harry, she turned around to tell them off, but was surprised to see Draco. "Oh, it's you. Well, what did you want?" she asked, wondering why he left the Slytherin table to follow her.

Draco grabbed her hand and led her out the Great Hall. He started to walk up the stairs, a little ahead of Hermione. "This relationship has to end as soon as possible, Granger. Some of the seventh year and fifth year Slytherins are looking at me as if I’m someone like… someone like you," he said with the most distraught voice he could muster. He turned around to look at Hermione, but found her loads of steps away from him.

Hermione looked disappointingly at Draco, although she knew this really was going to happen. She was "dating" the Draco Malfoy; of course she had to expect the worst words he could tell her. She walked up the stairs without looking at him. "I'll be in the library, Malfoy, in case you're through getting disgusted of me," she told him before she reached the step where he stood. She stopped to look at him and said, "If you’re wondering, it's not easy doing this whole thing too. Gryffindors see me as a traitor, but you wouldn't bloody care about that wouldn't you? You're too busy caring about yourself." She wanted to slap the wits out of him, but thought better to walk away.

Hearing some of the words escape from Hermione's mouth like self-centered bastard, stop pretending, working hard and not being Head Girl next year, Draco followed her in a run, but didn't say anything. He followed her in silence until she got to the library. _‘I just don't want my contention for Head Boy next year to go adieu_ , _’_ he notified himself as he opened the door for Hermione.

"What are you still doing here?" Hermione asked, surprised to see him opened the door for her. "Aren't you done getting disgusted of me yet? Or you followed me to tell every vindictive word you can hit upon in every language to my face? There are loads of dictionaries here. Do you want to start from the Asian ones? I'll gladly lead you to that section," she told him mordantly and was about to walk out on him when he grabbed her arm.

"I followed you because I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I said," he managed to blurt out.

"Did I hear that right? Do you mind saying it again?" Hermione was taken aback by his apology. Has she really affected him with those words she told him by the stairs? Or was he just saying it to make things alright between them? But never mind that, she just wanted to hear his apology again. 

Draco let go of her arm and smirked at her. "Don't push it,” he said and walked towards the back of the library. She sat across him at the table and brought out her books. They started doing their homework in silence, constantly asking each other for help.

Finished on their homework, Hermione stuffed her books in her bag and pulled out the muggle book she bought from Hogsmeade, "Angels and Demons by Dan Brown," and started to read where she left off. This was her after-schoolwork relaxation therapy or whatever people would call it. She wasn’t the Gryffindor bookworm for nothing.

Draco stretched his arms to his front and leaned lazily back on his chair. Finally, homework was done. They even finished the problems they had to solve for Artihmancy, which was due the Friday after next week. He was also surprised that Hermione was easy to work with when it came to school work. After blinking a few times to keep himself awake, he saw her reading again. Hermione Granger was once again drawn to a book. He noticed she had her hair in a ponytail. She would bite her lips and her eyes would look worried, probably when something bad happened in the book. Her eyes would twinkle and a small on the side of her lips would form, probably this time, something nice happened in the book. She would constantly lick her lips when they start to dry up. Yes, absent-mindedly gazing at Hermione Granger was Draco Malfoy’s new habit. 

Hermione noticed Draco was looking at her. She tried to ignore him as hard as she could, but she couldn’t concentrate on her book with him staring at her like that. "What is it, Malfoy?" she asked, finally giving in. She closed the book and placed it on the table as she crossed her arms.

Draco snapped back to reality when he heard Hermione’s voice. He swayed his head and tried to laugh casually. "I can't believe you still manage to read books after doing your homework," he managed to reason out as he examined the book Hermione was reading. "Aren't you tired?" He read the prologue of the story, and was quite intrigued. It showed murder. "You read books about murder?"

Hermione smiled. "It's not just about murder, Malfoy. There's a story behind those murders and that's what makes it interesting," she answered, a bit surprised about Draco's ignorance on plots of books. "May I have it back now?" She handed out her hand and expected Draco to give it to her, but he didn't. "Malfoy?"

"No. I think I’ll be keeping this for the meantime." Draco said and placed the book in his pocket. He grabbed his bag, stood up, and turned his back on Hermione. “Aren’t you coming, honey?” he asked with mock sweetness in his voice.

Annoyed, she grabbed her bag and walked to Draco’s front. “Please, Draco. I’ll lend it to you when I’m finished, I promise,” she pleaded, holding his arm, tugging lightly on his robes. “Five more pages and it’s over, please?” He looked down at her and just gave her an evil smirk. Hermione gave up with a sigh. She closed her eyes and touched her neck. “Alright, I’m not in the mood to have a fight with you anyway,” she said as she started to rub her long, smooth neck to ease the strain because of reading over their books earlier.

Draco watched as Hermione moved her hands back and forth on her neck. It was hypnotic. His mind lingered once again where it shouldn’t be. “Alright, here it is” he said and handed her the book. _‘And stop doing that,’_ he thought. Hermione’s eyes flew open upon hearing his voice. Her eyes lit up as she took hold of her book.

On their way to their dormitory, Hermione had her arm hooked on Draco’s. She suggested the idea since they had an agreement that she would finish the book that night so she could let him borrow it. Draco served as her guide as they walked. He would tell her they were going up the stairs, or would pull her lightly if she was going to hit someone. He thought of how stupid he must had looked, walking like that with her.

Finally, a few more steps before they reached the portrait hole to their dormitory, Hermione handed him the book. “Done,” she said as she handed him the book and removed her arm from his. “I hope you’ll take care of it, Draco.” 

He said the password and entered their common room. “I will,” he said and sat in the common room to start on the book while Hermione proceeded up the stairs.

As she entered her room, she was surprised to find loads of owls sitting on her bed, on her table, on top of her wardrobe. _‘What in Dumbledor’s name?’_ she thought and placed her bag on her table. Her room looked like the owlery, for crying out loud. She was about to shoo all of them away when an owl entered her room, and without warning, pooped on her hand. Hermione let out a yelp, but not enough to wake up the whole dormitory, just to le. Since Draco was still in the common room, he heard her and went up to see what was happening.

"What are these owls for?" he asked when he entered her room and saw the owls. Hermione stepped from her little loo and was drying her hands on a towel.

"I read one letter, from the bloody owl that dunged on me, and it's from girls threatening me," she answered him, not bothering to hide her annoyance. “Ugh, I can’t imagine why they would fancy you anyway. If I were with Justin right now, I wouldn’t have this mishap,” she muttered under her breath.

"Finch-Fletchley? You fancy that bloke?" Draco grinned. He opened one letter and smiled at what he had read. "What can I say? The damned women find me irresistible," he told her conceitedly. "And in no time, my dear Granger, you will be one of these girls, I guarantee you."

Hermione glared at him and threw the towel at his face. "I would have to resurrect Voldemort first, Draco, than to be a member of your fan club," she said with sarcasm. She grabbed her wand from her robe and muttered a spell that made all the letters from the owls stack themselves up on her rubbish bin. "Inflamory," she muttered and the letters caught fire.

"Well, well, well. Jealous now, are we?" said Draco and tossed the towel on Hermione’s bed. "Don't worry Granger, you'll be the only girl for me… for now of course," he laughed and walked towards her. "Won't I get a goodnight kiss, my love?" he asked as he hugged Hermione, slowly moving his hands downwards. Feeling Draco's hands going down, she bit his bare neck until he let go of her. "Ow… What was that for?" he asked angrily as he touched his neck to check for blood.

"For trying to make a move on me, you bloody pervert," she told him and pushed him out her room. "Goodnight Malfoy," and she slammed the door on his face when he made a kissing face.

**DracoHermioneDracoHermione**


End file.
